More flood damage, and thoughts before heading home

On Sunday afternoon I joined a team from Church World Service and travelled five hours north to Khairpur. One of CWS’ local partners there  - the Participatory Village Development Programme (PVDP) gave a presentation on their work so far with flood affected communities in the area and the next day we visited communities that had been displaced by the floods. 

 

One community in the village of Agra had been ordered to vacate the school premises they were occupying so school could re-start. There were some thirty families and their livestock living in the school grounds. They said they had no houses to go back to as they had been destroyed in the floods. Some women were making craft items on sewing machines donated PVDP while two mothers brought their new-born babies to the health team. One was clearly undernourished. The health team saw 250 people in the course of the day.

We turned off the new road built on an embankment and bumped across pathways and fields towards another village, Tayyab Sheikh. It had been flattened when water two meters high had flooded their village. The community had evacuated to the road and lived there until the waters receded. About 50 families had returned and those who were able had begun to rebuild some kind of shelter from mud walls and thatched roofs.

The remains of the school at Tayyab Sheikh

The villagers had organised a makeshift school for the children under a tree. The only sign that there was any activity were a few sheets of paper with the outlines of children’s hands strung up in the branches. This attempt to provide the children with a school was both touching and pathetic and shows what a vast reconstruction effort lies ahead. Previously the girls in the village had not gone to school but when we asked the children who wanted to study there was a shout and a forest of hands were put up. Just yards from the flattened remains of the former school the children of this marginalised community knew the importance of education. I hope their cries will be heard and that a school for boys and girls will be rebuilt in Tayyab Sheikh.

Children at the makeshift school

Like the people in Agra they were Haris, landless peasant farmers. They were worried that the landlord would try have them evict them from their village even though they had lived there for generations. These kind of conflicts could be repeated all over Pakistan as the powerful try to take advantage of those with no land, little money, no power or influence. Property disputes, already a common enough feature in the country, are likely to escalate as boundary markers have been washed away. 

Next we went to Sukkur where we saw non-food items being distributed to 500 families. The packs included kitchen utensils, mosquito nets, soap. I was struck by the organisation and professionalism of the team from PVDP and the respect they gave the people receiving the packs. These were people who had lost their homes and their belongings and been forced to move, but the young team treated these people with dignity, showing them the contents of the packs and efficiently recording the details of the recipients.

Many more people were outside but only those registered with PVDP and CWS would receive the goods. This was all taking place in the premises of a Diocese of Hyderabad hostel (supported by Church of Scotland). It is also the base of a coalition of local organisations that works with children from a nearby community who live in slums on the banks of the River Indus. The children receive formal and non-formal education and two meals a day. Later we visited the area where they live and we met a number of families who were grateful for the cooking utensils, soap and mosquito nets they had been given. One woman was delighted with the mosquito net and said, “We get a lot of mosquitoes here – this is great!” I was not surprised they get a lot of mosquitoes – the muddy river water was only a few feet away and every few yards was a plank of wood suspended just above the water with a rigging of rags providing a minimum of modesty for users of these most basic of latrines. These people live in wretched conditions and the only help they receive is from Riverside Slum Child Project. Manowar Gill, project leader, is keen to do more with the community and it would be great if he could get partners and resources to allow this.

Family receives non-food items in riverside community

We returned to Karachi on Monday evening and woke on Tuesday 21 to the news that violence had erupted across the city and 17 people had been shot in targeted killings between rival political parties and groupings. The murder in London of Dr Imran Farooq had stoked tensions and the city was once again witness to gunfire and killing.

My last full day in Pakistan, was taken up with meetings with Rt Rev Sadiq Daniel, Bishop of Karachi, Rev Julian Justine, Acting Director of IBTIDA drug rehabilitation programme and with Church World Service. Each of these allowed for reflection on the current situation and opportunities for further cooperation in the future.

Pakistan is facing multiple crises and challenges. In the past 10 days I have seen how some people are trying to respond to some of them. Pakistan isn’t the easiest place to live, work and make progress but it is too important a place to walk away from. And there are some amazing people and organisations that inspire and encourage.

Children from the riverside slums having lunch at the Riverside Project

A closing word about the impact of the worst floods in 80 years to hit Pakistan. It is a sobering thought that the destruction of houses and schools, the displacement of entire communities, the loss of belongings and the turmoil all of this brings to suffering people is being replicated in thousands of villages and towns in Pakistan. The scale of this disaster is almost incomprehensible with statistics and numbers rendered meaningless because of their sheer immensity. I at least have seen the faces of a few people uprooted by this disaster and I pray I won’t forget Yunas at Tarnab, Diwan Masih and Pervaiz in Charsadda, Sher Mohammad in Tayyeb Sheikh or Shaukat and his daughter and Elahi Buksh in Sukkur.

Travelling south

On Friday 17 I travelled south to Sind and discussed various issues with Rt Rev Rafique Masih, Bishop of Hyderabad, including how Church of Scotland grants can continue to support diocesan priorities.



Mrs Caleb &  Bishop Rafique at St John's High School, built with WMC funding

On Saturday we went to Mirpurkhas where I saw the second floor containing classrooms, science and computer laboratories at St John’s High School. Church of Scotland grants had paid for this construction over the past two years and now the rooms have to be painted and equipped. The Principal, Mrs Najma Caleb, asked that her thanks be conveyed to the Church’s World Mission Council for this financial support. Students from the Muslim, Christian and Hindu faith communities all study at the school showing the diocese’s commitment to service to all, regardless of faith.

On Sunday morning I joined the congregation at the refurbished 150-year old St Thomas’ Cathedral for the communion service and was introduced by Bishop Rafique. We sang Psalm 99 in Punjabi to the tune of Auld Lang Syne and Rev Naseer John preached on being Children of God from 1John 3:1-11.

When I arrived in Sind on Friday, it was in time to see a dramatic presentation of the story of Ruth by girls and young women at the end of a meeting of the diocesan women’s fellowship.

They performers had obviously put a lot of work into this production. They knew their lines, had prepared costumes and knew their places. But as the narrator intoned her way through the Bible verses my feeling was “What has this to do with the lives of the women present, or those who endured drought earlier this year, those who are displaced in camps because of the floods, those who suffer from feudal violence and misogynist prejudice today and every day in Sind and elsewhere in Pakistan?”

Why does the Church not encourage and enable people to read, study, understand and use the Bible in a way that connects with their experiences and empowers them? This, of course, would involve risk, would involve giving away some power, would mean being challenged and maybe even changed, at least for those who are currently in authority and control the agenda.

To borrow a slogan, What Would Jesus Do?

Leaving for Pakistan

I am feeling more apprehensive than normal just before I begin the journey to Pakistan. I have my documents ready, bags are packed and I have done this many times before, so why the difference?

It isn't because the cover of a recent New Statesman described Pakistan as the world's most dangerous country - the Economist has a very similar cover story when I visited in January 2007 just after Benazir Bhutto had been killed.

The first few days will be full of meetings on the thorny issue of property. This is an issue that has dragged on for years as the Church of Scotland tries to ensure that the land it still legally owns in Pakistan is controlled, managed and developed for the benefit of the Christian community.

Land is always contentious and is at the centre of many disputes in Pakistan. We seem to be making a little progress on some very complex matters but a lot of the time I am way outside my comfort zone. Thankfully I have great support from colleagues in Scotland and Pakistan but there are difficult issues to deal with and some people oppose some of the changes we are trying to implement.

Looming above the situation is Pastor Terry Jones' threat to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday, anniversary of 9/11 tragedy and in the middle of Eid ul Fitr, the feast that marks the end of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast. This has rightly been condemned by right-thinking people around the world, including the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news/nr520910.htm

I have received two messages from Pakistan - one, a report and photographs of a protest by Pakistani Christians against Pastor Jones and another advising me not to go to church on Sunday in case there are protests against the Pakistani Christian community.

The thought of not being able to worship with Christian brothers and sisters - something I always enjoy when I visit partner churches - is disappointing and hurtful. Does Pastor Jones realise what the consequence of his actions could be for millions of Christians in the Muslim world?

And how can we show solidarity with Christians in places like Pakistan and also demonstrate to Muslims that Pastor Jones does not represent the views of Christians or Westerners?